Saturday, 12 December 2009

Naya Zamana (1971)

Apologies for the abrupt end in Dharmendra week, that thing called Zindagi (life) interrupted but i'm back on form and i'll fulfill my promise and complete the last few movies i had chosen to review over the next few days. In Naya Zamana ( New World) our hero stars as a revolutonist/rational angry young man

Anup (Dharmendra) is a revolutionist who speaks out against the oppression of the poor and fights for the cause of the poor, he's also a writer who's trying to get published but his writings and criticisms of the oppression of the poor are considered controversial, thereby rendering his work unpublished

Anup is directed to Mr Rajen (Pran) for a job as a publicist, Mr Rajen happens to be a typical example of the kind of Rich people Anup speaks out against, despite Anup taking a stand and voicing his opinion on the oppressive ways of the rich, Rajen takes a liking to him and gets him to write his political speeches

When Anup realises Rajen's family had been behind a humiliating experience his sister Rekha (Aruna Irani) had experienced, he quits his job as a publicist to Rajen

Rajen goes to Anup's house apologising to the wrong done to his sister, Anup is not around but Rekha and her mother (Lalita Pawar) accept his apology, Rekha tells Rajen about Anup's desire to be a writer, he promises he can help fulfill Anup's dream by publishing his book

When Anup finds out his book has been given to Mr Rajen without his consent he's displeased, and goes to confront him, when he gets to Rajen's house, he sees Seema (Hema Malini) singing a poetry from his book

Anup is impressed and his affections towards Seema's change as she had come across as an arrogant, self centred rich girl the last time they met

She tells him how his book 'Naya Zamana' which she had picked from her brother Rajen's library had changed her views of the poor. She tells him how she wishes to change things and asks him to give her a tour of life in the slums

While in the slums she comes acoss a bill passed by her brother Rajen for the slums to be shut down to make way for new buildings, Seema disrupts the bill and prevents the slums from being knocked down

Rajen challenges her authority to which Seema acknowledges Anups writings in 'Naya Zamana' as having changed her , she dares him to read it and not come out thinking as a different man

Rajen sees this as the perfect opportunity to publish Anup's book, on the day of the release Seema as well as Anup's family are shocked to see Rajen credited with Anup's writings

When Anup finds out Rajen's deed he's hesitant to expose Rajen as he had donated all the profits from the book to a handicapped home plus Anup feels if the oppression of the poor is being heard, the author shouldn't matter

Despite publishing a book on the oppression of the poor Rajen continues with his plan to destroy their living area when his plans are interrupted by Anup he bribes Sitaram a local slum dweller to ignite fire in the slums. Sitaram out of greed sets the whole slum on fire, Anup's mother gets injured in the process

When word gets out that Rajen was responsible they set out to burn his factory down, Anup tries calming the villagers down telling them burning down Rajen's factory won't solve the issue, he's accused of being a sell out andsiding with the rich

Words also gets out in the press that Anup is using Seema as a bait to her father's millions millions, as a result her father stops her from seeing AnupDaaadaa Moniiiiiii (I love this man)

Naya Zamana (New World) reflects the attitude of the common man against the establishment in 70's india and a hope/call for more equal opportunities for the poor, I enjoyed this film very much, it kept me entertained all the way through and i liked the way it highlights the double trappings of capitalism and oppression, on one hand you have the frustrated workers who are tired by the oppressive actions of the rich, their anger leads them to attempt burning down the factory, on the other hand if they do burn the factory they'll be left unemployed thereby making them even more destitute

Dharmendra doing the couture pose (hand on hips check, pouty lips check)Loved Dharmendra's portrayal of the Angry young man in this one, rational, nuanced, not at all violent and not over the top as the image of Angry young man later became

I don't remember much of this film - saw it years ago. But yes, one thing I did remember was that Hema and Dharmendra looked so good together. If for nothing else, at least for eye candy, the film's worth watching!

I had really enjoyed watching this movie. Totally agree to : "Dharmendra's portrayal of the Angry young man in this one, rational, nuanced, not at all violent and not over the top as the image of Angry young man later became"And Hema really looked gorgeous in this one.

@ Filmbuff Sharafat is on my rental list, i should be getting it sometime. i actually rent most of my dvds from tesco dvd rental service here in the Uk but eros and some dvd sellers here in the Uk usually have the old Dharmendra movies but some like Jugnu & Loafer are hard to get hold of

boy, Naya zamana is a nice movie.Dharm looks good in his performance of an angry young man,but not over the top angry man.Dadamoni gives another brilliant performance as usual and takes away with him the acting honours of this film.By the way,did you know naya zamana was remake of a cult bangla film called Udayer pathey[1944]-directed by guess what-the great bimal roy himself.Naya zamaana is just a more commercialised version of that movie which is supremely poetic.indeed udayer pathey seems to have influenced guru dutt who made made pyaasa-that poetic masterpiece on a similar theme.

A friend posted a comment on the extreme similarity between Naya Zamana and Udayer Pathey (1944) on my blog where I recently wrote about the latter film. I was searching for Naya Zamana and came across your post. Did the makers of Naya Zamana at least credit Bimal Roy and his team, do you know? Also very curious to know if Naya Zamana featured Jana Gana Mana? Do you remember?

About Me

I'm an outgoing, fun and down to earth guy who is bollywood crazy, hence why this blog is called bollywood deewana(dee-vah-nah). Bollywood is like a hobby for me, i love reading about it, watching, researching etc. I started this blog out of inspiration by other bollywood blogs i read, plus i watch a good deal of movies, at least 2-3 in a week, hence i thought why not give my reviews and share my love of Indian Cinema.
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